Technical and regulatory changes are driving changes in digital broadcast systems. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is requiring broadcasters to change channel assignments and at the same time Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0 stations will replace legacy 1.0 stations. As understood herein, channel detection must be accommodated during the transition period, which may last for many years, because as TV channels shift frequencies and/or types of broadcast from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0, the TV receivers must be made aware of the changes. As also understood herein, current ATSC 1.0 receivers cannot detect any new signaling to support automated channel changing data. This is problematic because during spectrum packing and the transition period from ATSC 1.0 to 3.0 broadcast, channel assignments are expected to change in an unpredictable manner such that required channel schedule information is unreliable or perhaps even unavailable.